Ok, been very busy with the job but have started to make some headway on my Axeman project.

Plans, as so often happens, change a bit. Was going to pour the whole basement floor with crete but have to wait. I have to re do a sump pump basin and I'll be adding some footings for a support beam I'll be installing. So I poured a nice hefty pad, approx 9' X 7' between 8" and 9" thick with wire mesh etc. Its actually better this way because the floor, when it gets poured, will be about three inches below the pad. Makes for a nice platform.

Instead of mixing 70 plus bags by hand I went with a local delivery called 'Short Load'. They come and mix right at the site and charge only for what you use. I put 2 yards in that pad.

As a nice bonus, I was treated to a little 161 year old history. Inside the massive brick and granite base for the three fireplaces above is a small room built in to the base. I imagine it was a root cellar in days gone by. The ceiling of said room was plastered over and the plaster was starting to come loose. I decided to remove it. It exposed a beautiful face of the 11" X 8" inch chestnut beam that have stalwartly supported all that weight for 161 years. They are a gorgeous golden color, first light they saw in as much time! And show the hand hewn adz marks left by the craftsman of the day, long since departed from this earth.

A nice sight that pictures are hard to do justice, due to the confined area I was forced to photograph in. I will attempt to post better ones but here are a couple. Also shown are shots of the exposed edges of the beams to juxtapose the differences.

In order to hold the ruler in place I needed to drill pilot holes for the nails. It was like trying to nail into steel!